A variety of difficulties, inconveniences, and/or inefficiencies may be encountered in conjunction with the distribution of goods and services from suppliers to consumers. For example, it can be cumbersome and time consuming for the consumer to locate the section of the store (e.g., the dairy aisle, the dry cereal aisle) where the items the consumer desires (e.g., milk, oatmeal) are located, to find the most efficient path between each of those locations, and to transport all of the collected items to a checkout line. From the perspective of the merchant, it may be desirable to make the task of shopping more efficient, convenient, and satisfying for the consumer. It may also be desirable to increase sales by presenting individuals with an increased number of choices in specific areas, by increasing the effectiveness of incentive offerings, and by reducing the impact and/or occurrence of undesirable events.
Similarly, from a supplier's perspective, it may also be desirable to improve the consumer's shopping experience and to increase the volume of sales in many of the same ways as the merchant, but it may also be desirable to acquire information about consumer behavior and their actions in response to specific stimuli. For example, suppliers of goods may wish to test the effectiveness of specific targeted offers, which may be tailored to individual consumers and/or identifiable environmental conditions. In addition, it may be desirable to improve the ability of suppliers and other participants in the supply chain (e.g., raw material suppliers, manufacturers, producers, wholesalers, distributors, truckers, financiers, investors) to easily and quickly collect and access information regarding the flow of goods and services to consumers. Such information may be useful to effectively test various marketing and/or distribution tactics and may also be useful in effectively managing production and distribution to reduce necessary inventories.
Although it may be a goal of most or all participants in the supply chain to improve the consumer's shopping experience, several aspects of the traditional shopping process may detract from this goal. For example, once a consumer has traveled to the merchant's facility, located and collected all of the desired goods, and transported them to a checkout, the consumer typically then waits in a line before the consumer's selections may be inventoried and his/her purchase completed. At this checkout phase of the merchandizing process, delays may be encountered due to the volume of items being purchased by other patrons, the number of other patrons in line in front of the consumer, or inefficiencies in conducting the checkout by the other consumers and/or the clerk.
In terms of automation, companies are increasingly embodying RFID data acquisition technology in a fob, token or tag for use in completing transactions. A typical fob includes a transponder and is ordinarily a self-contained device which may be contained on any portable form factor. In some instances, a battery may be included with the fob to power the transponder. In which case the internal circuitry of the fob (including the transponder) may draw its operating power from the battery power source. Alternatively, the fob may exist independent of an internal power source. In this instance the internal circuitry of the fob (including the transponder) may gain its operating power directly from an RF interrogation signal. U.S. Pat. No. 5,053,774 issued to Schuermann describes a typical transponder RF interrogation system which may be found in the prior art. The Schuermann patent describes in general the powering technology surrounding conventional transponder structures. U.S. Pat. No. 4,739,328 discusses a method by which a conventional transponder may respond to a RF interrogation signal. Other typical modulation techniques which may be used include, for example, ISO/IEC 14443 and the like.
One of the more visible uses of the RFID technology is found in the introduction of Exxon/Mobil's Speedpass® and Shell's EasyPay® products. These products use transponders placed in a fob or tag which enables automatic identification of the resource when the fob is presented at a Point of Sale (POS) device. Fob identification data is typically passed to a third party server database, where the identification data is referenced to a resource (e.g., resource) credit or debit account. In an exemplary processing method, the server seeks authorization for the transaction by passing the transaction and account data to an authorizing entity. Once authorization is received by the server, clearance is sent to the point of sale device for completion of the transaction. In this way, the conventional transaction processing method involves an indirect path which causes undue overhead due to the use of the third-party server. As such, a RFID system for facilitating a transaction between a merchant and a consumer wherein improvements in store layout, offers presented, pricing, inventory management, and payment reconciliation is desired.